Gabriel Vilardi scored for a fifth consecutive game and added an assist as the Winnipeg Jets cruised to a 5-1 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Friday night.
Vilardi has recorded six goals and six assists during Winnipeg’s current five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1).
Nino Niederreiter scored twice and added an assist, while Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry also found the net for the Jets.
Mark Scheifele assisted on Winnipeg’s first two tallies.
Connor Hellebuyck made 11 of his 24 saves in the third period.
Winnipeg, which scored twice in both the second and third periods, had a 33-25 shot advantage and went 2-for-3 on the power play.
Brandon Carlo scored the lone Bruins goal and Jeremy Swayman stopped 28 shots in net for Boston, which is winless in three straight (0-1-2).
The Jets controlled the play for the majority of the opening frame before drawing first blood, logging a total of 10 shots on goal and another nine attempts that were blocked. However, they didn’t break the scoreless draw until the waning seconds.
With just 7.8 ticks left before the intermission, Morrissey — who had an earlier goal waved off due to a kicked puck — scored the rebound of a 2-on-1 exchange between Vilardi and Scheifele that defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s errant aerial pass triggered the other way.
The Jets put the game out of reach during a two-goal second period that began with an empty power play for each team over the first eight minutes.
Winnipeg doubled its lead when Vilardi knocked in a loose rebound after Swayman saved the initial Scheifele shot that was deflected on net at the 11:17 mark.
Less than a minute after Swayman denied Scheifele on a penalty shot after defenseman Parker Wotherspoon closed his hand on the puck in the crease, Niederreiter made it 3-0 by burying Nate Schmidt’s diagonal pass with 2:19 left in the second.
Mason Appleton had a shot leaked back into the left circle by Swayman, and Appleton set up a wide-open Lowry in front for the Jets’ fourth goal just 1:25 into the third.
Carlo broke Hellebuyck’s shutout bid with 5:38 left in regulation, triggering a long shot from the right point off a failed clear.
Niederreiter took Cole Perfetti’s feed to the slot for a late man-up goal with 18.9 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
